Are you starting a softball team? Have you ever heard that question before? I have, even though we’re nowhere close yet (just a basketball team, so far).
This family of 11 kids, however, can answer: yes!
I think this sounds like a lot of fun to see all those kids working and playing together, especially for a cause.
Have you ever had a family team like this? Did you find it fun or frustrating to play with your siblings or kids?
Looks like the new CEO for Eli Lily offers his big family as inspiration for many of the skills that got him to the top.
A large family taught Lechleiter how to negotiate, cooperate and get along with others. It also taught him the importance of education. He tore through high school, taking advanced chemistry, physics and calculus classes.
I’ve certainly seen a lot of negotiation happen around here. Too often it’s the “Take it or leave it” negotiation tactic, but I’ve often seen some wonderfully giving moments between my children that make me feel ashamed for my own “It’s MINE!” attitude that I have sometimes.
How about you? Do you see any budding CEO’s in your brood? What kind of “business skills” do you think your goslings are learning?
While not really a story of a big brood itself, this story about a pediatrician who is a father to a big brood does talk about how a big brood can help you to be more sensitive. I have certainly experienced this in my own life. I’m naturally pretty self-centered but when you have 2-3 voices at a time needing something, you tend to learn that you might not be center of the universe.
Quoting the article:
“I’m a pediatrician. I practice what I preach.” Having a large family helps him understand what his patients are going through, he added.
“When you have seven children, you probably have seen it all - from tantrums to trouble sleeping. Your empathy level is more aware.”
His philosophy as a pediatrician is to treat each child as if that child were his own, Schaefer said.
“If you treat people (of all ages) how you would like to be treated, in general things go fairly well.”
While a smaller family can give you a lot of great experiences I have to say that I’m constantly amazed at the range of personalities that we have in our own house.
